Kristian: Saints nail it with 2nd round pick

In two picks, the Saints have addressed serious needs and acquired really good players. With the teams second round pick, the Saints grabbed a huge cornerback in Stanley Jean-Baptiste (Nebraska).

The big corners are the en vogue trend in the NFL. Jean-Baptiste is huge at 6’3 215 with a massive wing span. He’s a former wide receiver, much like Seattle Seahawks CB Richard Sherman. The Saints are clearly modeling or mimicking the success of the Seahawks.

“His technical skills need some work,” NFL analyst Mike Detillier said of Jean-Baptiste. Detillier likes the selection as a great counter to some of the other moves in the NFC South.

“It ended up being a good fit for us; he stood out on our board.” Saints Coach Sean Payton said. “Starting a year and a half ago, we’ve placed a bigger emphases on size, and I think we were able to do that tonight,” he continued.

“I think every year, we take the same numbers of players at cornerback to camp every year. It’s pretty normal. When we go into training camp we’ll make sure we have the correct amount of depth on the roster,” Coach explained. The Saints have a ton of cornerbacks on their roster; Keenan Lewis, Corey White, Champ Bailey, Patrick Robinson, and Rod Sweeting.

Payton said the Saints discussed moving up in the 2nd round but decided to stay put with their selection 58th over all. “We also had an exit strategy just in case he wasn’t there.”